19Aug/11Off
How long does a Brain Aneurysm take to develop?
Can anyone tell how long does a Brain Aneurysm take to develop? Please don't copy and paste.
Does it take years, months?
Is it something that can be developed and ruptured in a matter of months?
August 19th, 2011 - 12:39
The natural history of brain aneurysms isn’t well understood. Most of these get found either when they rupture or incidentally (i.e., you have an MRI for something else–like an unrelated headache syndrome–and the aneurysm is found). So in most cases, how long the aneurysm took to develop is anyone’s guess. Furthermore, when aneurysms are very small they are below the limits of detection of a standard MRI scan.
Now, anecdotally there are certainly people who have had an MRA (MR scan of the arteries) of the head that looked normal and then had a ruptured aneurysm within a relatively short period of time (<1 year)–it’s quite unusual for that to occur, but it’s also quite unusual to have an MRA scan done unless there’s a very specific reason for it. In most cases we simply don’t know how long the aneurysm has been there.
For rarer causes of aneurysm–for example, infection of the blood vessel walls (known as a mycotic aneurysm), aneurysms can develop and rupture within a matter of days to weeks.